Greg Monroe Signs Qualifying Offer from Pistons

Greg Monroe has signed a one year qualifying offer from the Detroit Pistons. According to the Detroit Free Press, the deal is worth $5.5M although the terms of the agreement were not officially announced as per team policy.

The 2015 free agency

“I look forward to playing for Stan Van Gundy and his staff” Monroe said.” He as a proven track record, and I’m excited about working with my teammates to get better and prepare for the season.”

But his days in Detroit may be numbered.

The deal paves the way for the 24 year old Monroe to become an unrestricted agent in 2015. Monroe has been one of the big contributors for the Pistons since they drafted him 7th overall in 2010. But his future with the Motor City franchise has been in limbo after he and the team failed to come to terms with a long term contract during the offseason.

Number One priority

Newly installed Head Coach Stan Van Gundy gave marching orders early in the offseason to make the signing of Monroe the team’s number one priority. The Pistons initially offered their four year big man a five year deal worth $60M which the Monroe camp rejected. The team then came back with an offer that “was slightly better on a per year basis than Josh Smith’s four year $54M deal last summer but still no deal was reached.

After the stalemate, it was reported by CBS Sports that Monroe’s agent David Falk, tried to work out a sign and trade deal with at least five teams, including the Thunder and Blazers. None of those trades materialized and in the end, Monroe risked millions of dollars in guaranteed contract money to buy his freedom in 2015.

Losing Monroe

As for the Pistons, they now lose the right to keep Monroe by matching an offer from another team once Monroe hits free agency next summer. The team has missed the playoffs in the last five seasons and has undergone several player and coaching movements in the process.

This offseason, they named former Heat and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy as their new Head Coach and President for Basketball Operations. The team also signed free agents Jodie Meeks, D.J. Augustin and Caron Butler to add outside and perimeter shooting to a team that has three promising and talented frontcourt players in Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith.

Monroe averaged 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game last season. Monroe played all 82 games last season and is a career .508 shooter from the field.